Dead Time
by dr100
Summary: "Time is being unravelled, leaving very little to piece together of our lives in particular.  The rest of the universe, fine!  Our universe is patchy in places, meaning what we're after is something to bind what we know, collectively!"  Dead Time.
1. Chapter 1: A Killer is predictable

Doctor Who: Dead Time

Featuring the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond as played by Matt Smith and Karen Gillan in the hit BBC Television Series.

Chapter One: A Killer is predictable

By Nathan Mullins

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><p>The rifle spun into the haze as Commander Sampson toppled forward, his attacker having intervened in time. Sampson turned to face his assailant. It was Rico; one of his own. Another officer charged forward, wrestling with Rico until he quietened down. Sampson got to his feet, the dirt on his boots clearly evident having toppled into a ditch. The sharp end of his rifle had pierced the palm of his hand, and it bled as he took aim at Rico.<p>

"Got a problem?" he asked, agitatedly.

Rico let out a chuckle, while a rifle was trained on him still.

"I'm not going to let this go," said Sampson, while his second in command held Rico secure.

Resting on the rock he had been a moment ago, Sampson returned to his line of work. He raised the rifle high into the air, stared down the eye piece and made for certain his targets were a hit and not a miss. Rico sniggered from behind him.

"You're going to hell!" he yelled.

"Shut him up!" ordered Sampson, turning to Jarvis, his second in command who held Rico in his grip.

Then Sampson fired on his targets.

They all fell down, like dominoes. They knew not of their being watched from afar, and now they had no reason to. They were finished.

"You're a traitor to your own kind!" shrieked Rico, Jarvis' right hand covering his mouth as he had Rico positioned face down on the rough ground. He managed to squirm free to get his voice across to that of his associate Mr Sampson Arrilios.

"I'm going in!" said Sampson, turning from beyond the cliff face to his men.

"What do you hope to find?" shouted Rico, elbowing Jarvis until he fell back, and he was able to stand. He reached for his pistol.

Sampson stood up, to match the height of Rico. He was again aiming his weapon at Rico, whom had already given him reason to have him shot.

"Valuables," said Sampson. "A valuable we were employed to have returned to Mr Reverse."

"But he said there were to be no danger, no catastrophe…"

Sampson turned his back, ignoring Rico. He made his way down the cliff face, with their being a staircase leading down to the bottom.

"You're a murderer!" shrieked Rico. "What's to stop me from pulling the trigger, ending your life?"

"Friendship!" yelled Sampson, far below Rico as he observed those he'd shot from a short distance.

"Have you found what we came for, Mr Arrilios?" called Jarvis, now sat upright threatening Rico.

"No, not yet Jarvis, but I am certain I will, given time!"

"Time is something we don't have!" said Rico.

He ran at Jarvis, who turned his head too late to spot his attacker dive forward, and put in a kick, striking Jarvis in the head, and sending him far back into the dirt track of their vehicle.

"Sorry," said Rico, while rummaging through his ex-associates pockets, for the keys to the transport.

"Found it!" declared Sampson, on the beach below.

No response.

"JARVIS?" he called, once more, but he guessed something was wrong.

From on the beach, all Sampson could make out from above him was the screeching of tires as they made a hasty retreat.


	2. Chapter 2: The impossible is disbelievin

Doctor Who: Dead Time

Featuring the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond as played by Matt Smith and Karen Gillan in the hit BBC Television Series.

Chapter Two: The impossible is disbelieving

By Nathan Mullins

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><p>"Don't go looking back," Rico told himself, squarely.<p>

He was at the wheel of his car, when suddenly something darted forward, and in very little time, he had rammed through what had emerged ahead of him.

He braked, and the vehicle skidded to a halt. His head was on the wheel, and slowly looking up, dazed and without a clear image forming in his mind, he released himself from seatbelt and seat altogether.

"What…happened…" he worded, in his head and not out loud while his head was spinning wildly.

A girl was dead. Rico dropped to his knees.

"No…" he said, quietly.

He stared on in horror at the little girl.

"NO!" he shouted.

He'd killed her.

"She died instantly," said the Doctor, as he strolled over towards Rico, one hand tucked away in his trouser pocket, the other tipping his hat.

"Sorry… what?" Rico found himself saying.

"She's dead. Nothing more to be said," sighed the Doctor. "However, you will be charged with manslaughter, unless…"

"Unless what?" murmured Rico, getting to his feet. The Doctor helped him up.

"Unless you're used to death, hence why you're not overcome by grief. You've seen this sort of thing on a daily basis, hence the scars you have. You're an employee, of a gangster perhaps. Yes, possibly. Am I right?"

Rico simply nodded. He said nothing, because as the Doctor had already pointed out, the girl was dead and there was nothing more to be said.

"What are you running away from?" asked the Doctor.

"What?" responded Rico, rudely. He rolled his eyes, disrespectfully, and sat on the bonnet of his car , arms crossed.

"Well, look at you. Scruffy young man, speeding. You're frightened, yes? The twitch in the eyes, the sniffle of the nose, and the curvature of the lips every second I continue to quiz you on the obvious. What's your name, and what are you running from?"

Rico didn't know what on earth was going on. He got up, off the bonnet, and returned to his seat.

"I'm trying to help you," said the Doctor. He leant on his car, speaking to Rico through his side window. "You've just mowed down a little girl I have ties to in the past, so I'm asking you nicely, to please fill me in on what I fail to understand!"

"Is there something you fail to understand, Doctor?"

There was anger in Rico's voice.

"Get in," he said.

The Doctor shook his head.

"We're not leaving, or rather you're leaving with me and we leave at once!"

Rico got out of the car, and stared down at the Doctor and the little girl. The girl's body faded away.

"What? What's going on?"

Rico didn't understand.

"I'll explain in the TARDIS," said the Doctor. "Come on, it's this way…"


	3. Chapter 3: Help is required

Doctor Who: Dead Time

Featuring the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond as played by Matt Smith and Karen Gillan in the hit BBC Television Series.

Chapter Three: Help is required

By Nathan Mullins

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><p>Rico was led by the Doctor to a blue wooden box. Before he turned the key in the lock, the Doctor had a question to put to him.<p>

"The little girl…" he said, as he leant on the TARDIS. "You're so scared. Is it because she's been stalking you? Like a ghost, she's been haunting you. Why else after knocking her down, you were so able to hold back what you feel, every innocent emotion should have risen to the surface. You killed her, a long time ago, didn't you, and so you're running, not from not wanting your share of adventure, but away from it."

Rico was speechless.

"In you go," said the Doctor, yanking the door handle and as the door fell back, he ushered him in.

"Who've we got here?" said Rico, spotting a pretty girl.

"My wife," said Rory, brushing past and turning to greet the Doctor with a touch of his fist.

"Rory, my man," said the Doctor, receiving 'the touch', and nodding to Amy and River who stood on the main platform beside the TARDIS.

"Who's this?" asked River.

"A lady's man, by the sound of it," Amy cut in.

"A killer, actually," the Doctor informed them. "He's running from a troubled past, and we can't help him because he can't help himself."

"What do you mean, Doctor?" asked Rory.

"He's just mowed down a ghost…"

"So it wasn't real, and I didn't kill her?" Rico wondered.

"Oh, you did, and it was long ago, wasn't it? Don't pretend you had nothing to do with this little girl."

An image of the same little girl appeared on the TARDIS monitor, and the Doctor ran up to it, and pressed his hand against the image.

"I could do very little," said Rico. "She was drowning. I can't swim."

"It was you and your associates who did this to her," declared the Doctor. "You knew what you were doing. You jumped in after the realisation hit you, that if she died, you'd still be in with a chance of being charged for murder."

"Doctor, why have we a murderer in our midst?" asked Amy.

"There's something not quite right, Amy, Rory, River. Can't you feel it? Who is this man? Why did he go to such terrible lengths? Can he work out just what is going on? He's onboard to assist us in our enquiries. So, Rico, who, where and when were you running from?"

"Another of my kind," Rico answered.

"What do you mean, exactly?" demanded River, now at the Doctor's side. "It's important. Don't you see? This man can give you a chance, and if you can't accept that, then your mad!"

"The Doctor's not going to do anything for him, River," insisted Amy.

"That's right," said Rory. "He's killed, perhaps on numerous occasions, or just the once. Never mind how many deaths, the Doctor's not for turning!"

"That depends," said the Doctor.

"Commander Sampson is who you want. I can lead you to his whereabouts, and fill you in on all you need to know, if you so wish to make connections?"

"Hurry," said the Doctor. "There is little time left!"


	4. Chapter 4: Losing it

Doctor Who: Dead Time

Featuring the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond as played by Matt Smith and Karen Gillan in the hit BBC Television Series.

Chapter Four: Losing it

By Nathan Mullins

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><p>"What are you talking about?" asked Rico, dead serious. "Why is there little time left?"<p>

Mr Arrilios had his hands clasped together while happiness took hold, and he rejoiced. He rubbed the palms of his hands together, with great pleasure. He had found it, or rather his associate had found what he had been searching for in over several millennia.

Commander Sampson had been squealing in the halls and had charged up to Mr Arrilios while he met with the prime Minister in the study. He caught Sampson's eye as he entered in a flurry.

"Err, excuse me Sir," he said, leaving the prime minister's side.

He met with Sampson in the halls.

"Well, what is it Commander?" he asked, furiously.

He had a meeting to attend to, yet the excitement was reaching its climax as he now believed he had within his grasp the jewel he had been searching for.

In Sampson's hands was a small box, and as Arrilios took it from him, he peered inside, and smiled.

"Excellent," he said. "Any casualties?"

"None," answered Sampson.

"You had better not be lying to me Sampson. If the police discover something missing from the corpse you found this in possession of, I will have your head!"

He closed the box, and handed it back to Sampson.

"See to it is placed in the safe, and that a guard is to stand on watch for the duration it is here…"

Arrilios marched back into the study, while Sampson set to work.

In the TARDIS, far, far away from civilisation while drifting in the space-time vortex, Rico helped to assist the Doctor in his enquiries.

"And that's where I left him," said Rico. "He had just murdered several government officials. He was searching for something, for a Mr Arrilios. My employer, despite having never met him, I know of him, and his work. He too has a bold past, of murder and deceit. Why I ever worked for him…"

"Because you're sick," said Amy. "You think of nothing else but revenge, and hurt, and pain, and then when its on your face, you give in. I wonder why…"

The Doctor set the controls for Earth.

"Because I can't take it anymore. I want to put an end to the relationship with those I've worked for, but thinking about it, I have done and the contract is at an end. I want to change…"

Rico was going mad. He was at boiling point. He was going to crack. He was going to go crazy.

"Well then," said the Doctor, intervening at the critical point. "You have assisted us so far, so continue to do so and I can promise leniency. I've set the coordinates for Earth, the destination we're to locate this associate of yours, Mr Sampson. Now, what I have planned is, from what you've told me, we're to arrive seconds after you've set off, Jarvis is out cold, and Sampson is on the beach with but no clue as to what the hell is going on. We shall then appear, and intervene!"

"And what then?" River piped up from beyond the console, arms crossed and deeply concerned. "Time is being unravelled, leaving very little to piece together of our lives in particular. The rest of the universe, fine! Our universe is patchy in places, meaning what we're after is something to bind what we know, collectively!"

"How do you mean River?" asked Rory.

"We're lost Rory. We always have been. Since the Doctor died, and we know that he is still dying. His time is running out. What happens after we arrive and Rico's left and then he meets the Doctor from the past, and he takes him backwards in time to this event, and somehow all becomes oh so clear…"

"What are you talking about?" shrieked Amy.

"Yes, what are you talking about River?" the Doctor bellowed.

"Dead Time," she whispered.

"There is something wrong with time, you said so yourself, but in the future…"

"The future hasn't happened yet," the Doctor informed her.


	5. Chapter 5: Searching for the answers

Doctor Who: Dead Time

Featuring the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond as played by Matt Smith and Karen Gillan in the hit BBC Television Series.

Chapter Five: Searching for the answers

By Nathan Mullins

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><p>"It has," River muttered.<p>

The Doctor skipped to the doors, and looked out from the blue box.

"Is this the location?" he yelled back to Rico, who quickly peered from out of the TARDIS himself.

"Yeah," he said. "But Sampson's legged it…"

"No worries," said the Doctor, stepping out and rushing over towards the bodies.

The bodies of the dead had been left discarded on the beach.

"Your typical bloodbath," said Rico.

"Your typical what?" Amy blurted out.

"You know, mate," Rory cut in. "You really are what we know you are. A despicable killer, whom we want little to do with!"

"That's not so," said the Doctor. "What was it you said Sampson was searching for? An item he wished to present to a _'Mr Arrilios?'_

"I have no idea," Rico answered. "What I do know, on the other hand, is these men and women were all government officials, and they had congregated here to meet with a spy…"

"A spy?" Amy chuckled. "How would you know about that? Spies don't exactly broadcast where they go, and who they meet?"

"We know. I know," said Rico. "He was returning from a mission in Greece. No idea what that mission was, but we had him intercepted. Then we had to have those on the beach dealt with, and of course, I wanted nothing to do with that, but Sampson was keen. He liked murder. He found it adventurous."

"Hmm," said the Doctor. "These men work for the British secret service. I imagine they were keen on getting their hands on some form of precious cargo, and Mr Arrilios is, well…"

He turned to Rico.

"Any idea how we can find him?"

"I have his address," replied Rico.

"Good man," said the Doctor, patting him on the back. "Let's be off!"

Hurrying back into the little blue box, the Doctor tapped the coordinates Rico had given him into the programmer, and the TARDIS dematerialised.

"So, what do we know?" asked River.

"Not a lot," the Doctor confessed. "So Mr Arrilios should be able to provide all the answers we seek!"

The adventure continues…


	6. Chapter 6: Know All

Doctor Who: Dead Time

Featuring the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond as played by Matt Smith and Karen Gillan in the hit BBC Television Series.

Chapter Six: Know All

By Nathan Mullins

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><p>As Rico entered the TARDIS, something startled him. He jumped back in alarm, crushing Amy and Rory in the doorframe behind him.<p>

"Do you mind?" shrieked Amy, pushing past him.

"Sorry," he said. "It's just, I never noticed…"

"The TARDIS is bigger on the inside, eh?" said Rory.

Rico nodded.

"You'll get used to it," the Doctor told him, passing him on his way over towards the console.

"What is this thing Doctor?"

"The console operates this blue box," said the Doctor. "Come here and I'll show you!"

As Rico stepped up to the platform the console was fixed to, the Doctor saw in him something odd.

"Are you alright?" he asked him.

"No," said Rico.

Staring beyond the console and the Doctor, Rico saw an image of that ghastly little girl.

"It's her," he said.

"Who?" the Doctor asked him, all in a fluster. Turning in the direction Rico was, staring at something he himself couldn't see, he asked him again.

"The girl…" answered Rico. "The girl I killed, so long ago. You were right!"

"About her stalking you?" asked the Doctor.

"She's here, right now, staring back at me, with those grotesque, evil eyes…"

"What are you on about you mad man? You killed her. She was innocent. No wonder she stares at you in horror?" shrieked Amy.

Suddenly, River appeared, just as Rico drew his weapon.

"Now, _hold it,_ **HOLD IT!"** yelled the Doctor.

River was startled to find the gun pointed in her direction. She too reached for her weapon.

"You heard him!" shouted River.

Rico released his grip on the gun, and it dropped into the Doctor's hands as he leant beneath Rico to catch it.

"She's gone," he sighed, breathing with some relief.

"Would you have pulled the trigger had I refused to move. Heck, I hadn't a clue I was in the way of a ghost. I was going to kill you, but just you remember, you can't kill a ghost."

River's words humiliated Rico further.

The Doctor was at his controls, when he too sighed with relief.

"Come on, we've arrived!" he declared.

Charging past Rico, Amy, and Rory, the Doctor tugged on the blue wooden doors, and peered out from the TARDIS. River followed close behind the others, as they too squeezed out into the corridor beyond the blue box.

"Mr Arrilios…?" the Doctor called, but in a whisper, so not to attract any unwanted attention.

"Is this where we shall find him?" asked River.

"Well, if the coordinates Rico fed us are anything to go by. Ah, now I've spot a door over there…"

The Doctor ran towards the wooden door, and pressed one side of his face up against it. He beckoned his friends forward.

"What can you hear?" asked Rory.

"Silence," said the Doctor.

"No… not them?" wondered River.

"Hopefully not, but I do wonder. The girl, the little girl, who is apparently a little ghost. We shall learn more by…" and suddenly the Doctor's voice had risen louder and louder, until he pressed down on the handle of the door, and marched on inside. "… - Introducing ourselves to one murderer and a mad individual."

Ahead of the Doctor, stood a tall man, in a dull grey suit, and matching glasses. He wore clean white gloves, and a smile. Possibly a trademark smile, of his character as a mad man.

"Mr Arrilios?" asked the Doctor, stepping forward.

There was a gentleman at Mr Arrilios' side. He appeared as a gentleman, but he could have been anyone. His hair was tied back. His hair was long, clearly, due to it being scruffy, and not neatly combed back. Hairs were out of place. He wore a dissatisfied facial expression. He appeared worn out, but stood up straight, alert, and keen, and showed a typical readiness in any criminal, therefore the murderer.

"Mr Sampson, I heard all about you. You do like to make your mark in the world," said the Doctor, determined to strike fear in the two men's hearts. "All those men and women, left for dead on the beach. Their families will have to live with a dark secret, a name they will hate, because when you're sent down, and **I MEAN DOWN**… your name will be written on the death certificates of those men and women. _By the way, Sampson, Arrilios, I'm the Doctor, and I have a question to put to you!"_

To be continued...

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><p>Author's note: Hello there dear readers! I hope you're well! This chapter is incredibly late. You know me… I like to post chapters up on a daily basis, because you can really, really get into a story, and when there's a gap, or a pause, and time stands still, and there's no bridge to cross, you're stuck. This being told in a typical Doctor Who narrative.<p>

I've been extraordinarily busy of late, filming for my Doctor Who series over on you tube, with links to my latest adventures in time and space to be found on my fan fiction profile. Do feel free to check those out. So, I should begin again, telling further chapters of this adventure, shortly! - DR100 ~


	7. Chapter 7: Painting space and time

Doctor Who: Dead Time

Featuring the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond as played by Matt Smith and Karen Gillan in the hit BBC Television Series.

Chapter Seven: Painting space and time

By Nathan Mullins

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><p><em>In chapter nine, coming soon...<em>

River sighed. She took the painting from the Doctor, and hurried out into the corridor, finding her way back to the TARDIS. Once there, she set coordinates for a single crack left open in the whole universe, and set the TARDIS in motion.

"It seems a shame," she mused. "But something that shouldn't exist, but does, has to be destroyed. It may change history, otherwise, be it good or bad…"

_Read on..._

"Arrest him!" ordered Mr Arrilios.

Sampson buzzed on a switch beside him. In an instant, the office was swamped with guards. They pressed the Doctor up against a wall, and took hold of his friends.

"What's the meaning of this?" he yelped, as he struggled in the grip of one of the guards.

"How did you find this place?" asked Mr Arrilios.

Then, from behind that of the Doctor and his own men, he saw Rico. Sampson drew his gun.

"No!" shouted Rico, as Sampson pushed forward, and shot him.

The Doctor stared down at the body of Rico, and shook his head in shame.

"That's how," said Sampson, tucking his gun away.

"You know, you've made a very stupid error," said the Doctor, enlightening those who held he and his friends captive.

"Oh yes?" chuckled Mr Arrilios.

"Yes!" snapped the Doctor. "But you can find that out for yourselves!"

Mr Arrilios turned about him, siding next to the Doctor, and held in his right hand, a gun he pressed up to the Doctor's head.

"The twitch," said the Doctor. "Are you frightened, Mr Arrilios?"

The Doctor saw something odd in the crazed lunatic.

Then Mr Arrilios saw it himself. He backed away from the Doctor, dropping his weapon. He fell backwards, clawing towards his desk, with his guards having released their grip on the Doctor, and Sampson now on his hands and knees staring up at something incredible.

"Something wrong?" the Doctor bothered to ask, watching those below him scrambling back from something he himself had no knowledge of.

"Doctor, what's wrong with them?" asked Amy.

"It's the ghost of Rico…" Sampson trembled.

"There's something wrong," mumbled the Doctor.

"Yes," hissed River. "Why ghosts? I didn't think ghosts, real ghosts, truly existed…?"

"Well, that I'm not sure, but there's something else. What were saying earlier, about something referred to as dead time? What is that?"

"When time trips itself up," answered River. "You said there is something wrong with time, but in the future…"

"Yes, well, I did, and the future is now. What if the future is now, and these ghosts are the future? The human race… you die, but then you haunt those who have ever affected you, and then when the ghosts die, the ghosts in turn are haunted, but what for? What if I die in the future…

Amy jumped in to reassure him.

"You won't die, you can't, you regenerate…" she huffed.

"Yes, certainly, but there is something binding time. That's why we're now where we are, searching for something that I know is the key to all of this."

"And what is it? What does it look like?" asked Rory.

"That!" said the Doctor, turning to an image in a frame behind that of Mr Arrilios' desk.

"Oh my…" whispered Amy, nearing the painting.

"How did we miss that?" asked Rory.

"Well, we were being probed by Mr Arrilios himself," said the Doctor. Staring down at Mr Arrilios and Commander Sampson, he lowered himself to their height, and whispered, - "The jewel you couldn't wait to get your hands on. Do you have any idea what you've got yourselves into, because I have absolutely no idea!"

The Doctor got up, strode past those few idiots left grovelling on the floor, and took down the painting.

"This painting has seen many times and places," he said. "Imagine how time and space clings to this, because time and space clings to us all. It's how we can often chose how something ends, and where on various occasions we can't step in at all."

"Time is being unravelled, leaving very little to piece together of our lives in particular, said River. "The rest of the universe, fine! Our universe is patchy in places, meaning what we're after is something to bind what we know, collectively!"

"And that's dead time?" wondered Rory.

"Exactly," replied the Doctor.

"Now, if that is the case, then the future revolves around us. This painting must be restored to its rightful place and time, while we must work out why there are ghosts. How do we fix the dead, if the dead are us, and do they become us?

"Doctor!" shrieked Sampson, backing against a wall, squirming almost, until his cheek drew blood as something invisible marked him.

"It's started!"

The Doctor scrambled to his side, but within seconds he was dead.

Mr Arrilios crawled across his office floor to the bloody body.

"His throat has been slit!" he croaked.

"Doctor, what's going on?" demanded River, Amy, and Rory, Mr Arrilios, and his men.

"Rico's taking his revenge. And look!"

He turned to face the body of Sampson. It was glowing a bight blue and white.

"The body's fading to negative, like how you'd imagine a ghost, or a ghoul, or a spectre. The dead don't simply rest in peace. They seek to take their revenge!"

To be continued…


	8. Chapter 8: The resurrection of the dead

Doctor Who: Dead Time

Featuring the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond as played by Matt Smith and Karen Gillan in the hit BBC Television Series.

Chapter Eight: The resurrection of the dead

By Nathan Mullins

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><p>"So, what's the plan?" asked Amy.<p>

The Doctor turned to face her, his eyes bulging as he delivered his answer.

"The plan, Pond? Oh, isn't it all rather simple?"

Amy and Rory shook their heads.

"Okay, think about it, the dead become ghosts, so what would you do?"

"Find out what exactly is going on," said Amy.

"Correct," said the Doctor. "Come on!"

The Doctor and Amy ran on, while River turned to Rory, taking the painting from him.

"Sorry," she said. "I must return this to the TARDIS."

"Why must you?" asked Rory, while picking up the pace to catch up with the others.

"Spoilers," hissed River, as he disappeared out of sight.

From Mr Arrilios' office, the Doctor and friends soon wound up in a church that looked out onto a grave yard.

"What are we doing here Doctor?" asked Rory.

"It's raining," he answered. "We've taken shelter, and something else. Think Rory, what are we really doing here?"

The Doctor turned from Rory to a nearby window. He stared through it, as the rain pelted against the glass and the storm outside turned violent.

"Something to do with the grave yard, yes?"

"Yes," said Amy, speaking for him. "This is where the dead are buried, so why aren't the dead rising?"

"Good point," said the Doctor. "Those buried here have all died so long ago, therefore they aren't a part of any of this."

"So what are we doing here?" asked Amy.

The Doctor stared past her, through the next window. Through it, was a hill and past that, an array of bright light.

Amy turned to look through it herself.

"What is it?" she asked. "What's going on? Is this why you've brought us here?"

The Doctor nodded, and pressing his hands together, he crept closer towards the window, and looked through it.

"Yes," he said. "There's something going on. There has been for a very long while now. What was Mr Arrilios after, was not found when we searched his office, and at present, it is being used to bring the dead to life!"

"But how can it? What is it that has the power to do so?"

"There's no time for questions Rory, we must intervene, retrieve what is being used to bring about a change in the fabric of space and time. Imagine it, grief begins all over again, as does happiness and joy, bit It's not right. You can't have those who've died return to life. You just can't!"

Having made his point, the Doctor rushed towards the door, and charged through it. Through the window, Amy saw him rushing over the hill, until he was out of sight.

"Come on," she said. "He may need our help!"

As she and Rory rushed to catch up with the Doctor, they too reached him on the hill, staring down at a group of people, in hoods and cloaks. Amy approached the Doctor, who was ahead of them by a few feet, and tapped him on the shoulder.

"What's going on?" she asked him, quietly.

He kept quiet.

Rory approached her, and told her to hush down, when 'not liking to be barked orders at', Amy staggered backwards, until she fell and tumbled into the grave the men and women below them had been working on.

"Amy!" yelped the Doctor, charging down the hill to rescue her, Rory a close second behind him.

Suddenly, Amy shrieked in terror as a hand in the grave she had fallen in, held her firm in the hole she had tumbled into.

**"Rory!"** she screamed, as she tugged at the hand, but it held her steady.

**"Amy!"** shouted Rory, as he reached for her across the ditch.

"Stand back, Rory!" the Doctor warned him.

"Why?" he asked him.

"Because Amy's in no danger, and we've just interrupted the resurrection of the dead, so if I'm right, we too are as good as dead, so right now, this very moment in this time," he said, turning back to Amy. "There really is no point in saving you!"

"But Doctor…" shrieked Rory.

"Rory, not now," he whispered, as he turned his attention to those staring at them oddly.

"So, what is this, what's going on?"

"You shall join them…" they chanted.

"Sorry? What?"

The Doctor backed into Rory.

"You will join them…" they barked.

"Join who?"

The Doctor was sure he knew who, and so by asking ridiculous questions, had really done it.

"The living," they answered.

"Oh… **good!" **exclaimed the Doctor, breathing a sigh of relief.

_To be continued…_


	9. Chapter 9: Disturbances

Doctor Who: Dead Time

Featuring the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond as played by Matt Smith and Karen Gillan in the hit BBC Television Series.

Chapter Nine: Disturbances

By Nathan Mullins

* * *

><p>River sighed. She took the painting from Rory, and hurried out into the corridor, finding her way back to the TARDIS. Once there, she set coordinates for a single crack left open in the whole universe, and set the TARDIS in motion.<p>

"It seems a shame," she mused. "But something that shouldn't exist, but does, has to be destroyed. It may change history, otherwise, be it good or bad…"

But then she stopped and reconsidered.

River returned to the TARDIS, and hung the painting up above the console.

"Hmm," she mused. "The colours are wrong. I'd say this needs brightening up. Where is the Doctor's paint pallet, I wonder?"

Meanwhile, the Doctor, Amy, and Rory were surrounded by a group of conspirators.

"So, what now. We're already living, if you did but know?"

"No," they answered. "You must first die, and then we shall bring you back to life."

"Ah, I had a nasty gut instinct that may be the case, yet what's the point? Is there any point? Now, why bring the dead back to life. What is this a diversion?"

They answered, 'yes".

"Good, okay, fantastic, a diversion was spot on, so what are you diverting our attention from?"

"The rise of the dead across the entire planet."

"Ah, I see… and we're here, and you're saying we can't be everywhere at once? So, no matter that we've put an end to this little reunion, and beg my pardon, - what are you all, family members? Ghosts are springing up across the planet. And there's nothing we can do, or so you think!"

"And there is something we can do, Doctor?" bellowed Amy.

"Oh, there's always something we can do Amy, Rory, if only I was in contact with River Song, which by the way, Rory, but while we were away, did she tell you where she was heading?"

"The TARDIS," said Rory.

"Oh good," said the Doctor, delighted.

From his pocket, the Doctor reached for his sonic screwdriver. He aimed it upwards, as he held it in his hand. Then he switched on, and suddenly, from in the TARDIS, while painting, River heard the engines groan, and she knew exactly what to do.

"That'll be him," she said, spinning around to fiddle with the controls.

"Coordinates locked on to his present whereabouts!" she said, while activating the dematerialisation mechanism. "That sonic screwdriver of his," she mused. "It's almost as reliable as him, and to put my foot in it, this old contraption."

Suddenly, the TARDIS blasted into life, soon roaring above the heads of the Doctor, Amy, Rory, and their attackers, when all too soon, the dead began to rise, their graves now occupied with living breathing people, some just bones, skeletons, slowly fading into ghosts of the past.

When the TARDIS landed, the Doctor leant over Amy's grave, lending her his strong hand. She grabbed hold of him, as he pulled her in through to the TARDIS. Rory shut the doors, and River dematerialised.

Rory was helping Amy up, and the Doctor was observing the painting.

"What's new, or rather different?" he wondering, staring at it whilst River piloted the TARDIS.

"In what way, my love?" she asked him, while multitasking.

She turned to face him, when he picked up off the railings of the TARDIS a paint pallet River had been using moments before.

"You've been busy," he said, turning back around to face her.

"What is it?" asked Rory. "What's she done?"

The Doctor couldn't bring himself to look at her, while he made his mind up. He hadn't heard Rory, and was only focused on the painting, and what was wrong with it.

"What have you done?" he muttered, quietly at first, before grinning with some incredible facial expressions.

"I may have just saved the Earth," said River.

The Doctor hadn't heard her. Instead, he thought he was speaking for her.

"I think you may have just saved the Earth, River."

He was stunned.

"How's she done that?" asked Amy, approaching both the Doctor and the painting.

"The painting, Amy. What do you notice?"

"She's scrubbed the painting out. She's painted over the original. It's not how it once was."

"Exactly," said the Doctor. "The image was a tool, because it was a subject of the time vortex. Imagine the power it once held, because in a sense, it was a product of time and space. It could either be used for good, or great evil. But now it no longer exists as what it once was. Now, it is nothing. When Mr Arrilios died, and Rico, and all the others, and became ghosts, it was due to the painting. It wasn't being used then, in the office, while we were present, but it was there."

"So what of all those rising from grave yards across the planet?" asked Rory.

"The painting being a product of time had been used so others across the world had a means to it, by some form of image being transmitted in their heads. You see, this painting as I said could be used for good or evil. The image of the painting was placed in the minds of all those who came into contact with it. Remember, Mr Arrilios would do anything to get his hands on it, and he had murdered government officials, meeting on a beach. Why? My best guess is, this painting has seen many times and places. Of course it has, it's travelled through the time vortex, therefore, its image has had an impact on many of its followers from all over the world."

"And so my work here is done," said River, turning to face all three of the original TARDIS crew. "But it's been fun," she added, with a tear in her eye.

"Thank you," said the Doctor. "But before you go…"

Rory ran for the door, heading her off.

"Yes?" she said, turning to Rory who blocked her exit.

"Just tell me one thing," the Doctor went on.

"Which is?" River asked, while she noticed Amy cut her off at the tunnel beside the stairs.

"Who are you?" the Doctor asked her, darkly.

"Oh, Doctor, just you wait and see!" she replied, before teleporting out.

"Right, still no clues?" the Doctor groaned. "Any clues, either of you?" he asked Amy and Rory.

"This Rani you were telling us about, perhaps?" wondered Amy.

"Or, no, you said the monk was male, but he was a time lord, and time lord's can change sexes can't they?" pondered Rory.

"River is River," said the Doctor. "Until we meet again, of course!"


End file.
